The Marriage Game
by soron rocket
Summary: Ok, my first stab at fanfiction. Find out what happens when James makes a terrible mistake concerning his parents and Jezebel, and Jessie is the one who ends up cleaning up his 'mess'. Rocketshippy. Rated T just to be safe!
1. Chapter 1

The Marriage Game: Chapter 1

Jessie picked up her fork hungrily. She couldn't remember the last time that she had eaten such expensive and delicious looking food. The atmosphere in the large restaurant she and her companions were sitting in was very relaxed. Couples, gazing longingly into each other's eyes and enjoying candlelit dinners, mostly occupied the many tables.

On Jessie's left, Meowth was happily digging in to a juicy-looking tuna steak. On her right, James was shovelling a steaming roast dinner into his mouth. Jessie looked down at her own meal (pasta), her mouth watering, and began to eat.

"Dis is gooood!" Meowth said happily, his mouth full of tuna.

"Mmm hmm!" Jessie agreed.

"So, Jimmy, how'd ya pull dis one off?" Meowth turned to James.

James put down his fork and frowned at the cat pokemon. "What do you mean?"

His voice seemed to hold a trace of nervousness, Jessie noticed. She rolled her eyes. "Restaurants and posh hotels aren't cheap, James, we're not stupid! Where did you get the money, steal it?"

James looked uncomfortable. "What does it matter?" he asked.

"Exactly. It doesn't matter. So you can just tell us!" Jessie raised her eyebrows at him.

James just stared at his plate.

"Well?" Jessie persisted.

"Erm…." James stalled.

"What's da big deal, Jimmy?" Meowth asked light-heartedly. Jessie nodded in agreement and glared at James.

"… My parents" James finally muttered in defeat.

"Right…" Jessie returned to her pasta. Then James' words sank in. "Your Parents?" she exclaimed. "But I thought you didn't talk to them after what happened with"- Jessie spat out her name like poison- " Jezebel. In fact, when have you ever been on speaking terms with your parents?"

James stared at Jessie. "You really don't like Jezebel, do you?"

"Humph. I just think that she isn't meant to be with you, that's all. She's WAY too controlling, and besides, you're absolutely terrified of her!" Jessie said, her nose in the air. James looked hurt.

Meowth just couldn't help himself. "So who is it ya tink **_is _**right for Jim, den, Jess?" he asked pointedly, a twinkle in his eye.

"I don't know," she said in annoyance. "Anyway, James, don't change the subject. How exactly did you get your parents to **_give_** you money?"

James shrank back into his seat. "Er, well…. Oh Jess, I'm fed up of scrounging around for food and sleeping rough. I just wanted a bit of luxury for us all for once!" he said earnestly.

Jessie wasn't satisfied. "You aren't answering my question, James," she said, eyeing him suspiciously.

"Hang on, I'm getting to it."

James gulped. "Ahhh…. There are a few things I haven't been telling you both. Just let me explain…."

Ok, so there isn't much here to begin with… It's just a taster, I guess. If you like it, and wanna find out what James is hiding, THEN PLZ REVIEW! If you don't, review anyway and tell me why you don't like it. We can only learn from our mistakes, I say! I'll post the next chapter (which is a LOT longer and has a bit more action) as soon as I get some feedback.


	2. Chapter 2

The Marriage Game: Chapter 2

Jessie rolled her eyes angrily. Typical. She should have known James asking Meowth and her if they wanted to have a night of luxury could only lead to bad things. When did anything that could be described as luxury come free? She had just been grateful for the opportunity of good food and a warm bed. But here they were, a storm already seeming to brew overhead.

James was speaking quietly. "My parents have been trying to contact me. They've been sending me letters, begging me to go back home. They aren't getting any younger, after all…" he paused, and after seeing the thunderous look on Jessie's face, he shrunk further into his chair and continued nervously.

"I just ignored them at first. I figured that they would get the message sooner or later. But they didn't. They sent me more letters, telling me how sorry they were about the way that they had treated me in the past. They said that if I went home, things would be different this time. But they still wanted me to marry Jezebel. They told me to just name a date for our wedding, and they would give me as much money up until then as I needed to take care of you and Meowth. Again, I ignored them… but eventually, the temptation got too much. It seemed silly; the very thing the three of us were desperate for was there for the taking! As much money as we wanted! So I…."

"So you did what?" Jessie said, though she wasn't sure that she wanted to hear the answer.

"So I agreed to return home in a month, as long as my parents gave me as much money as I asked for until then."

Jessie just stared at James, speechless. Since when would James EVER agree to marry Jezebel? Meowth looked pretty shocked, too.

"Dimwit!" she yelled, suddenly finding her voice again. "What were you thinking?"

James looked hurt. "I thought you'd be pleased! Last time we were at my parent's house, you were all for me getting married to Jezebel and taking the money!"

"But you **_hate _**Jezebel!" Jessie yelled angrily. Many of the people in the restaurant were now staring in their direction.

James was yelling now too. "So! I could put up with her, if it meant you and Meowth were happy. You could both come and live with us!"- Jessie laughed at this suggestion – "I can't stand it Jess! All this struggling to feed ourselves, having to sleep rough, I'm fed up!"

"We've managed so far!" Jessie retorted. "And what about Team Rocket?"

"What about Team Rocket?" James asked. "We both agree this isn't exactly our dream job!"

By this point, Meowth had slunk under the table, and was sitting with his paws over his ears.

Jessie noticed that the waiter was making his way over to their table. She lowered her voice. "Well, James, you'll just have to tell your parents that you've changed your mind"

James cowered. "Erm, that won't really be possible." He said quietly.

"What?" Jessie said dangerously.

"Well…I…. erm… signed a contract" James shut his eyes; ready for the explosion that he was sure was about to happen. But it never came. He opened his eyes again. To his surprise, Jessie was sitting in her seat with her eyes closed. He opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off.

"And when, may I ask, were you planning on telling Meowth and I about this little"- Jessie stopped to find the right word – " 'mistake', of yours, if we hadn't wormed it out of you tonight?" She was still sitting - seemingly quite calmly- at the table. This didn't comfort James in the least, though, as this clearly meant that Jessie was angry way past screaming and shouting at him. The very look in her icy blue eyes told him that she was very, very close to the edge.

"Um, I hadn't really thought about that yet…" James said, his voice full of fear.

And then it came.

The explosion that James had been waiting for. He was wrong about Jessie being past screaming and shouting. Oh, how wrong he was…

"THAT'S JUST IT, ISN'T IT JAMES!" Jessie screamed at him, Jumping up and knocking over the glass of wine that she had been drinking with her meal. "YOU NEVER DO THINK THINGS THROUGH FIRST, DO YOU?"

The waiter seemed to have acquired some rockets on his heals, as he was now speeding over to their table at the speed of light.

"Excuse me, Madame, but I can't allow you to continue making such a racket in this restaurant." He said pompously. "Could you please leave!"

James stared at the waiter in disbelief. Did this man not recognise a woman scorned…?

Jessie turned on the waiter. "No, I will not leave your bloody restaurant! Not until I've finished!"

The waiter looked like he had been slapped in the face.

Jessie turned back to James. "WHY, JAMES, WHY?" She yelled. "YOU'VE JUST SIGNED YOUR LIFE AWAY! DON'T YOU REALISE THAT?"

Now James was on his feet. "Of course I realise!" he yelled back. "I just wanted to have a good time for once!"

Jessie laughed insanely. "A good time? What, so all the other times you, Meowth and me have spent together, they haven't counted as 'good' times, because they didn't include posh restaurants, and expensive food, and $30 bottles of wine?" She asked in a rage. "YOU'RE JUST LIKE HER, JAMES! YOU'RE JUST LIKE JEZEBEL!"

James flinched. That hurt him. That **_really _**hurt him. It wasn't like he didn't realise what a fool he had been. Not now, anyway. But he hadn't expected Jessie to react like that. Ok, maybe he had expected her to yell a little at first. But then he had expected her to tell him it was ok, that she had thought of some amazing plan to get him out of it, like she always did. That they could somehow trick his parents, and take the money without him having to marry Jezebel. But now it seemed that he was going to loose Jessie because of his own stupidity. He kicked himself for being so reliant upon her to think up all of their plans. How could he expect her to get him out of every stupid situation he got himself into? She probably thought he didn't even care about her. And now he was going to have to marry…. her. The monster with the whips. Jezebel.

"This is what I think of your expensive bloody wine!" Jessie shrieked. She grabbed James's full glass of wine and threw it furiously at him. The wine hit him full in the face, drenching his violet hair. "Well, I hope you've had a 'good' time, James," Jessie shouted, "and maybe I was wrong about Jezebel. You **_do_** suit each other!" Jessie spun around just as the waiter was about to make another attempt at removing this maniac from his restaurant. "I'M GOING!" she snapped at him. The waiter jumped back, as though he feared for his life. Jessie walked determinedly out of the restaurant, her head held defiantly high. Every eye in the restaurant followed her to the door.

James just stood, speechless, wine dripping from his violet strands.

Meowth emerged reluctantly from under the table. "Ya messed up big time, Jimmy," he said quietly. But seeing the sadness in his friend's eyes, Meowth couldn't help but feel sorry for him. He sighed heavily. "I'll go get her."

James nodded sadly. He watched as the cat dashed out of the restaurant after Jessie. He slumped back into his chair. "What a mess." James felt a hand tap lightly on his shoulder. He turned around to see the waiter, standing anxiously behind him, a small piece of paper in his hand.

" Your bill, sir."

Well, that's the second chapter done. It was a bit longer than the first, but I hope it didn't drag! I thought maybe it was a bit complicated and hard to understand in parts, so plz review and tell me whether you did actually understand it! I welcome any constructive criticism! Whatever you thought of it, just review! Thanx people! I'll post the next chapter as soon as poss! Oh, and I have to say a big thanx to Virgil's grl for reviewing my first chapter. My first review! Yay! Hope you liked this chapter!


	3. Chapter 3

Ok. There's something I forgot to do in the first two chapters…

POKEMON ISN'T MINE! I do not own the characters blah blah blah.

Phew! Now that that's sorted….

The Marriage Game: Chapter 3

Jessie walked slowly down one of the brightly lit streets of viridian city. She wasn't sure where she was headed. All she knew was that she had had to get out of that restaurant. The hotel she, James and Meowth were supposed to be staying at was located someplace in the area, though Jessie wasn't sure exactly where. James had insisted on taking Meowth and her out for dinner before showing them the place. At the moment, however, Jessie wasn't even sure that she **_wanted_** to be staying in a hotel with James. She felt so alone. She had thought that James was the one person she could trust in the world. Turned out he wasn't. But more than being angry with James, Jessie was confused. She would never have imagined that James would ever, no matter how much money was at stake, return home to marry Jezebel. He was absolutely **_petrified_** of her! Jessie shook her head. She had arrived at the end of the street she had been walking down. Now, should she turn left or right? She stared down each available route, before sighing heavily and slumping down on a street bench on the corner. Maybe she had been a little too hard on James… but what was she supposed to do? Just accept the fact that James was about to ruin his whole life?

Then it hit her. She had just walked out on her best friend. She had just abandoned him… even though he had hurt her, Jessie knew that it was wrong of her to just walk out on him… Even if it was his own fault, his own mess he had gotten himself into… she had a duty to stick by him, to try and sort this whole stupid fiasco out for him. Somehow, she owed it to him. As his teammate. As his friend.

Meowth scampered down the deserted street. He had to find Jessie. He had to make her see that it wasn't James's fault. James was just dumb. He couldn't help it. And Meowth was pretty sure James didn't have any intention of **_actually marrying _**Jezebel. James probably thought that Jessie would pat him on the back when he told her about everything. Yes, James must have thought that Jessie would come up with a clever plan to take the money and run, or so to put it. "But," said Meowth to himself, "Jim is **_dumb._** He doesn't see da way Jessie looks at him when his back is turned. If Jim maybe wasn't quite so **_dumb,_** den he n' Jess would be togeda now." The cat pokemon sighed. "Guess Jim just doesn't realise dat der actually **_are _**more important tings on Jess's mind oda dan money…" Meowth stopped talking to himself, as he noticed a streak of red in the distance. He peered closer. "Yep, it's Jess's hair all right!" he set off again, this time at a full speed dash.

Meowth skidded to a halt beside the bench, panting heavily.

"Meowth?" Jessie stared at the scratch cat, surprised that he had followed her.

"Jess," Meowth panted. "You gotta give Jim anudda chance!"

Jessie just blinked at Meowth. She didn't know quite what to say, which was unusual.

"Jess… I bet he doesn't really want ta marry Jezebel!" Meowth had regained his breath, and was now going into a full speed rant. "I mean, he probably thought that when he told ya, you'd come up with a clever plan to keep the money without him havin ta marry dat crazy Jezebel! **_Please _**come back with me n' help him. Ya shoulda seen his face when yous left da restaurant! He was devastated!"

Jessie stuck her nose in the air defiantly. "He shouldn't expect me to clean up **_his_** mess!"

"I know, Jess. But he's Jim. He's **_dumb_**!" Meowth said truthfully. He gazed up at her with pleading eyes. "Please come and sort it out with him? Please?"

"Hmph" Jessie knew what Meowth was saying made sense. In truth, she had actually been planning on returning to the restaurant to sort things out with James, anyway. But she didn't want to let Meowth know this. He would think she had gone **_soft_**.

"Fine… but I'm still angry with him. He should have just told me all this himself, if he wanted to scam his parents. We could have found out a **_much_** better and hassle free way to do it!" she said, her nose still held in the air.

" Alright, whatever, just come on!" Meowth yelled. He grabbed Jessie's hand and yanked her off the bench. He flew off back down the street, stopping occasionally to beckon Jessie after him. After a huge sigh, Jessie set off down the street after the cat.

James looked at his watch for what seemed like the hundredth time. Where were they? What if Meowth hadn't managed to find Jessie? A huge sweatdrop appeared on James's head as he realised that Meowth could be out for hours looking for Jessie…


End file.
